USA Today on the new season of Grey's Anatomy:
Notable guests:
Hector Elizondo comes back as Callie's (Sara Ramirez) father, who couldn't abide his daughter's relationship with a woman. Amy Madigan returns as Dr. Wyatt, as does Debra Monk as George's mother.
Where we left things:
Just-married Izzie (Katherine Heigl) and about-to-deploy George (T.R. Knight) each were at death's door, she from cancer and he from a bus accident. Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek (Patrick Dempsey) married in their own unique ceremony. And Bailey (Chandra Wilson), who had been the one stable, married woman, now "is the only one who is single," creator Shonda Rhimes says.
Where we're headed:
Izzie lives, George dies. The first hour of the two-hour premiere includes George's funeral. "The theme is the five stages of grief," Rhimes says. The doctors seek distraction as they deal with their colleague's death. Despite deep sadness, "some really funny things happen that are fairly laugh-out-loud. I think different things are funny when you're grieving."
The rest of the season will have a lighter tone. "We've been talking about some darker subjects, so we're planning to have fun this season," Rhimes says. And while Heigl will be gone for five episodes to shoot a film, there are no specific plans for the pregnant Pompeo to miss episodes. "Ellen is being an amazing trouper. She's shooting a bunch of her stuff ahead of time."
